Slab debarker having bark-abrading elements mounted on rotatable resilient disk



W. SLAB DEBARKER HAVING BARK-ABRADING ELEMENTS MOUNTED 0N ROTATABLE RESIL-IENT DISK 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 28, 1957 WGTFT 2 25 INVENTOR ATTORNEYS Dec. 23, 1958 w. G. FRITTS 2,865,414

SLAB DEBARKER HAVING BARK-ABRADING ELEMENTS MOUNTED ON ROTATABLE RESILIENT DISK 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 28, 1957 WGF? i223 INVENI'OR ATTORNEYS United States Patent SLAB DEBARKER HAVING BARK-ABRADIN G ELE- MIESJN TS MOUNTED ON ROTATABLE RESILIEN T D K Wilfred G. Fritts, Lexington, N. C.

Application March 28,1957, Serial No. 649,063

4 Claims. (Cl. 144-208) This invention relates to a slab debarker having barkabrading elements mounted on a rotatable resilient disk, and has as its primary object the provision of a machine particularly adapted for removing bark from slabs, such slabs comprising the outside portions of logs which have been removed from a central rectangular piece, the piece being adapted for the formation of boards or timbers.

A primary object of this invention is the provision of an improved device of this character adapted for the complete removal of bark from such slabs, whereby the slabs may be reduced to pulp, without resultant impurities from residual bark left thereon.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a device of this character including a flexible disk provided with abrasive metal cleats, the flexible disk serving to accommodate the device to irregularities in the contour of the slab from which the bark is being removed.

Still another object of the invention is the provision of a device of this character adapted for pivotal mounting relative to the work, whereby unusual protuberance such I as knots or limb stumps may be encountered and overridden without damage to the mechanism.

An additional object of the invention is the provision of such a device provided with spring means constantly biasing the abrasive member toward the Work.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a continuous-belt-pulley drive operated directly from the drive shaft of the motor, the motor being mounted on the movable portion of the support to preclude disalignment of the belt.

A further object of the invention resides in the provision of such a device particularly adapted for employment in a series of sequentially positioned abrasive units adapted to act simultaneously on the top and side portions of such slab, in such manner that when the slab is .passed once through the composite assembly it is completely stripped of bark.

A still further object of the invention resides in the provision of such a device which is sturdy and durable in construction, reliable and efiicient in operation, and relatively simple and inexpensive to manufacture, assemble and utilize.

Still other objects reside in the combinations of elements, arrangements of parts, and features of construction, all as will be more fully pointed out hereinafter, and disclosed in the accompanying drawings wherein there is shown a preferred embodiment of this inventive concept. i t i In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a longitudinal, vertical sectional view taken substantially along the center line of one of the units embodying features of this inventive concept.

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the apparatus of Figure 1, certain concealed portions thereof being shown in dotted lines, disclosed in association with a slab to be debarked.

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken substantially along the line 3-3 of Figure l as viewed from the direction indicated by the arrows.

Figure 4 is a bottom plan view of one of the abrasiv elements.

Figure 5 is a fragmentary sectional view taken substantially along the line 5--5 of Figure 1 as viewed in the direction indicated by the arrows. p i

Figure 6 is a fragmentary sectional view taken substantially along the line 6-6 of Figure 1 as viewed from the direction indicated by the arrows, and

Figure 7 is a fragmentary end elevation showing the rotary disk abraders of a plurality of units laterallyoifset from one another, and spaced longitudinally along a slab, disclosing an arrangement whereby the bark may be removed from the entire contour of theslab.

Similar reference characters refer to similar parts throughout the several views of the drawings.

Having reference now to the drawings in detail, there is generally indicated at 10 a frame structure, comprising a pair of base members 11, which extend longitudinally in spaced parallel relation along the surface of a support 12. The base members 11 are, as best shown in Fig. '3, of channehshaped configuration, and have extending upwardly therefrom angle iron uprights 13, which are con' nected across their tops by a channelmember 14, which includes a forwardly projecting flange 15 having an inclined front portion 17. Angularly disposed angle-iron reinforcing supports 18 extend between each base member 11 and the adjacent corner of top member 14. A transversely extending cross piece 19 is suitably secured between uprights 13 adjacent their lower extremity, but above base members 11, to provide a passageway for a slab S of wood havingbark B thereon to be removed by the apparatus.

Bearings 20, including oppositely disposed flanges 2 are secured as by means of rivets or bolts 22 to opposite sides of the transverse member 14 and its associate flange 15, the bearings serving as journals for a rotatable shaft or axle 23. Theashaft 23 is keyed against lateral displacement as by means of pins 24 or the like.

The shaft 23 has secured thereto a collar 25, from which extends an arm 26, adjacent one of the uprights 13, while the center of shaft 23 is provided with a cylindrical projecting member 27, extending at an acute angle to a projection of the bar 26 on a vertical plane. A motor plate 28 is secured to a tubular member 41 for movement therewith, the securing means taking the form of a flange 31 secured in any desired manner to the tubular member 41, which slidably surrounds the arm .27.

The motor plate 28 has fixedly secured thereto as byv means of bolts 32 a motor housing 33, which contains a conventional motor of any desired type and capacity, from which extends a drive shaft 34 on the end of which is mounted a 'V pulley. 35. It will thus be seen that the arm or bar 26, together with their associated elements including the motor plate 28 and the motor housing 33, as well as the rod 27 and its associated tubular sleeve 41 are adapted for pivotal movement with the shaft 23 Suitable means are provided for limiting the pivotal movement selectively, and take the form of an arm 42 which is secured in any desired manner as by bolts 43 to one of the uprights 13, and'extends forwardly in parallelism to the base members 11 The, arm 42 is .providedwith a T- shaped head portion 44, having elongated vertical slots 45 therein. The T head 44 is offset from the plane of member 42 by a right angled portion 46 and extends closely adjacent the arm 26. L-shaped stop members 47 are adapted to be secured as by means of bolts 48 and nuts 49 on opposite sides of the arm 26, the arrangement being such that the horizontal flanges 47a of stops 47 serve as limit stops for the pivotal movement of arm a closure member 54, and has a depending sleeve 55 extending at right angles thereto. An opening is provided in the top wall of sleeve .41 in alignment with the bore of sleeve 55 for the accommodation of a rotatable driven shaft 56, the outer extremity of which is provided with a head 57, upon which is mounted a V pulley 58. -The pulleys 35 and 58 are connected by a V belt 59, by means of which the drive shaft 34 of motor 33, drives the shaft 56 at a reduced speed.

The lower end of shaft 56 extends outwardly of the open end of sleeve 55, and is provided with a clamping head 60, which seats against a disk 61, which is preferably comprised of rubber or similar flexible material. A second clamping head 62 is positioned on the opposite side of disk 61, and the heads 60 and 62 are connected by bolts 63 and nuts 64 which extend through suitable .bores in the disk 61. The arrangement is thus such that the disk 61 rotates with shaft 56.

The outer or working face of disk 61 is provided with a plurality of abrading members 65. The members 65 are shown, in the illustrative embodiment herein, as being disk-shaped and provided with beveled edges 66, and are secured to the disk 61 as by means of bolts 67 extending through the disk 61, and held in place as by means of nuts 68. In the illustrative embodiment of the invention herein shown there are two abrading discs 65 diametrically opposed, but it will be understood that any desired number of abrading members may be employed. In Figure 7 there is shown an end elevation of portions of a plurality of units laterally offset from one another and spaced longitudinally along a slab, the added units including abrading disks 61a and 61b, driven shafts contained within tubular sleeves 55a and 55b, and chipping or abrading elements 65a and 65b. In this assembly of machines, there are shown only three units, the rotatable disks of each being in planes angularly disposed relative to the other, to effect a maximum coverage of the arcuate upper surface of slab S to remove the bark B from a maximum area thereof at a single pass of the slab. It

will be obvious that five or even seven of the machines may be similarily employed if desired.

A cushioning tension spring 70 extends between arm 26 and sleeve 41.

From the foregoing the use and operation of the device should now be readily understandable. A slab of wood is passed between the base members 11, the members 11 being spaced s'ufiiciently far, and the transverse brace 19 being sufliciently high as to permit a variety of sizes of slabs to be debarked. The slab is then fed inwardly into engagement with one of the abrading members 65 of a first disk 61, such feeding being accomplished either manually or mechanically as may be desired, and preferably from the direction. of the right hand side of Figure 1.

The motor 33'is then energized, and the rapid rotation of the disk 61 through the mechanism previously described causes the successive striking of elements 65 against the bark of the slab along a given line, to chip the bark awayfrom the slab. In actual practice it is preferable to align three or more of the machines having their disks set in different angular positions so as to remove the bark from a major portion of the arc of the slab, as shown in Figure 7. Obviously as the slab is moved longitudinally of base members 11 it passes between a succeeding pair of base members to be acted upon by a second, offset rotating disk, and subsequently a third disk and others as may be necessary for the particular type of installation.

When the slab emerges from treatment by the last of the rotating disks it is substantially clean of bark, and ready for appropriate processing.

It will now be seen there is herein provided an improved machine for removing bark from wood slabs, which accomplishes all of the objects of this invention, and others, including many advantages of great practical utility and commercial importance.

As many embodiments may be made of this inventive concept, and as many modifications may be made in the embodiment hereinbefore shown and described, it is to be understood that all matter herein is to be interpreted merely as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

What is claimed is:

1. In an apparatus of the character described, in combination, a supporting frame including a pair of spaced parallel base members between which a slab of wood having bark to be removed is adapted to be passed and transversely aligned uprights carried by said base member, journals carried by the upper ends of said uprights, a pivot shaft pivotally mounted in said journals, a rod fixed to and extending from said shaft longitudinally aligned with said base members and inclined upwardly relative thereto, a sleeve surrounding said rod, means for clamping said sleeve about said rod, a motor plate secured to said sleeve, a motor carried by said plate, a motor drive shaft operable by said motor, pulley means rotatable by said drive shaft, a second sleeve perpendicular to said first-mentioned sleeve and extending downwardly therefrom at the free end thereof, a rotatable shaft in said second sleeve, second pulley means connected to sa1d rotatable shaft at its upper end, a driving connection between said first and second pulley means, a disk carried by the lower end of said rotatable shaft, and bark-removing elements carried by said disk.

2. The structure of claim 1 wherein said barkremoving elements comprise metallic abrading members carried at peripheral points on the lower face of said disk.

3. The structure of claim 1 wherein said disk is comprised of flexible resilient material.

4. The structure of claim 1 wherein said barkremoving elements comprise diametrically opposed, metal disc-shaped members having beveled edges.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,172,762 Bezner Feb. 22, 1916 2,558,574 Martin et al. a- June 26, 1951 2,681,669 Falkman et al. June 22, 1954 2,800,935 Hosmer July 30, 1957 FOREIGN PATENTS 77,793 Norway Dec. 18, 1950 939,288 Germany Feb. 16, 1956 

